So far, five of the seven missing gold seekers have been rescued from the cave.Image: keystone
May 31, 2026, 8:34 p.mMay 31, 2026, 8:34 p.m
The spectacular happy ending for five gold prospectors trapped in a cave in Laos is overshadowed by the uncertainty about the fate of two missing people. The search for them has been resumed – but it is now leading the rescuers into even more difficult-to-access parts of the cave system, Australian cave diver Josh Richards, who was involved in the rescue mission, told the German Press Agency. For the divers, perhaps the most dangerous part of the mission is only now beginning.
The survivors are currently being treated in a hospital. They suffered injuries but are on the mend, Richards confirmed. After one man was brought out of the cave by experts on Friday evening, the four others miraculously made their way to safety on their own on Saturday.
Trapped deep in the mountain
More than ten days ago, the men were surprised by sudden monsoon rain while searching for gold in a remote cave in the northern province of Xaisomboun. Mass water flooded the cave system and there was also a landslide. Seven men were then reported missing.
The rescue mission quickly developed into a large-scale international operation with specialists from numerous countries. On Wednesday, international cave divers finally discovered five of them alive in a chamber hundreds of meters from the entrance – hungry and weakened but otherwise unharmed. Two other gold seekers remain missing to this day.
Rescue through your own strength
The drama took a completely unexpected turn on Saturday. After a first gold prospector was rescued from the cave by specialists in a complex operation on Friday evening, the four remaining men made it out themselves, completely unexpectedly, a day later. Just a few hours earlier, experts had considered further rescue attempts to be hardly possible due to the extreme risks.
Apparently the water level in the cave had fallen so low due to the emergency services’ constant pumping that the gold seekers spontaneously dared to escape from their claustrophobic prison. Since they had no diving experience, a rescue through deep water would have been difficult. Details about how they made it through the extremely narrow tunnels alone are not yet known. Many corridors could only be passed by crawling.
Search resumed
But then it rained again on Saturday. Nevertheless, the search for the two missing people continues, said Richards. The rescue teams wanted to try to penetrate beyond the chamber where the five survivors had been discovered.
“We got a map from the surviving men that said there was another passage beyond,” he explained. However, this section through which you have to dive appears to be even narrower and more unpleasant. The action is very dangerous. There is a cavity behind it – the only place where the missing people could still be. “I will go in myself if necessary,” he emphasized.
“More scared than when rescued in Thailand”
Even for experienced experts, the cave in Laos represents an extraordinary challenge. The well-known Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi, one of the minds behind the mission, compared it to the Tham Luang cave in Thailand, where a youth soccer team and their coach were trapped for two weeks in 2018. He was also significantly involved in the rescue back then. “I was more afraid than in Thailand,” Paasi told the US broadcaster CNN.
The tunnels are so narrow that even experienced cave divers have reached their limits. Anyone who suffers from claustrophobia would hardly be able to bear the passages, explained Paasi. In some cases, the rescuers would have had to exhale to push themselves through the narrow spaces centimeter by centimeter.
Dangers of gold mining
The case also highlights the often overlooked shadow economy in rural Laos, one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. According to relatives, the men had gone into the cave in search of gold to support their families. Informal gold mining has increased significantly in parts of the country in recent years. Human rights organizations and development groups have been warning about the dangers for years. (sda/dpa)